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Foreign buyers and the future of the SoCal housing market

LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 27:  A "For Sale" sign is posted in front of a house on November 27, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. According to S&P Index reports, for the month of September home prices in major U.S. cities have risen as much as 3 percent as compared with the same month last year.  (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
A "For Sale" sign is posted in front of a house in Los Angeles, California.

High housing costs may be causing trouble for the Southern California housing market.

High housing costs may be causing trouble for the Southern California housing market.

Despite the fact that the state has some of the highest wages and job growth, many potential buyers are choosing to go out-of-state and foreign buyers are even pulling back.

A stronger U.S. dollar could be to blame for the easing of many foreign buyers, including the Chinese, which surpassed Canadians as top foreign buyers last year. This may have to do less with the cost of housing and more with the U.S.’s image of political and economic security.

What do you think of the changing housing market? Do rising costs make you consider moving out of state?

Guests:

Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, which came out with a update this week on foreign homebuyers in the U.S

Raphael Bostic, Judith and John Bedrosian Chair in Governance and the Public Enterprise at USC’s Price School of Public Policy

Daren Blomquist, Senior Vice President at RealtyTrac, a real estate information company based in Irvine

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